Consequent to the necessity felt for the pressing need of environmentally safe phytochemicals which can be of use as agro-protectants and bio-preservatives being non-toxic to human health the applicants resorted to short listing the available medicinal and aromatic plants. After much discussion and debate on practical feasibility, the genus Mentha was chosen for being the source of numerous bioactive monoterpenes of industrial importance and some taxa having traditional culinary use for human consumption. The main emphasis of the study was not to discover the novel compounds or chemicals but to develop and make available a plant naturally yielding chemicals in desired combination to exhibit the biological activities of utility to fit into the prevalent cropping systems for commercial purposes.
Mints are cultivated as industrial crops in several countries for the essential oil and contain high value monoterpenes, which find diverse uses in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, food, confectionery and liquor industries. Mentha spicata L., commonly referred to as ‘Spearmint’ is the predominant source of flavour in various confectionery and food items due to the presence of carvone as the major component in its essential oil. The spearmint oil and its main constituent carvone are used extensively for various preparations ranging from medicine to flavored chewing gums, toothpastes and food products. The commercially important Mentha spicata L. predominantly has carvone in the essential oil but a taxonomically distinct variety, viridis of this species, has essential oil containing lower carvone content and some other components like limonene, piperitenone etc. In India this variety is cultivated widely in kitchen gardens for culinary use.